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Penn State Football Recruiting: An Appetizer for National Signing Day

Better get this posted before Jeff's super-deluxe National Signing Day post takes over the site tomorrow. I appeared on The Locker Room Show with Trevor Turner on Tuesday afternoon and we discussed -- what else? -- Penn State recruiting.

Chris on ESPN Radio Williamsport

0 recs  |  10 comments

Comments

burned bridges

You talked about the burned bridge at Woodland Hills, what happened there? Also, what happened with Gateway? From what I remember hearing was that Terry Smith was disappointed with how Justin King was used at PSU, is that the reason why that bridge was burned?

At Gateway, yes.

Terry Smith wasn’t pleased with Justin King’s treatment, I believe.

what kind of treatment?

I’m still curious on this. I still think he should have stayed for his senior year and then would have been drafted way higher.

Bridges

This is my first year actually following recruiting and am also quite interested in hearing the stories that lead to these so-called burned bridges

I didn't listen to Chris' recording yet,

but there are a couple of places throughout the mid-Atlantic that Penn State just isn’t a great brand name, for a variety of reasons. Some people just don’t get along, and sometimes certain high school coaches want to play a different game (require their players get star treatment, demand certain things, etc.)

There aren't really specific stories that go with this.

For a long, long time, Penn State coaches were essentially shut out of a number of high schools that produced top talent in the state. Woodland Hills, Aliquippa, Gateway, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Bishop McDevitt, and so on. Paterno and his coaching staff weren’t even welcome in some of those schools, and BOB needs to mend those fences. Working on the coaches over at Don Bosco in NJ would be beneficial, too.

I had heard this specifically about McDevitt

are there rumors as to why they were shut out? I know some were ND pipelines, but that shouldn’t mean that they wouldn’t allow PSU coaches to come in there.

Add Berwick to this list, too. Aside from Gus Felder, that is.
IMO "recruiting" coaches should be priority #1

These days you’ll see certain schools churning out 2-5 D1 recruits a year- it’s easier to get kids from your pipeline schools than spot recruiting over several states. That’s why the coaches should spend a good deal of time at those high schools, even if they aren’t recruiting anyone from there this year. Could you imagine if Terry Smith of Gateway thought favorably of us? They put out at least 10 legitimate D1 recruits the past 4-5 years. McDevitt puts out several a year including Spence, a top 15 kid this year and Shady, a top 5 RB his senior year.

Kids from Woodland Hills, Aliquippa, Gateway, Pittsburgh CC, Dematha MD, Don Bosco NJ, Archbishop Wood, North Penn even North Allegheny, Strath Haven and the Erie schools Cathedral Prep and McDowell would fill out a recruiting board every year. Not saying you should strictly recruit from those schools, but if you make them a priority they’ll take care of you come signing day.

Things I need to know before listening

Is “caring is creepy” used during the broadcast?

How many references to the Golden Mile.

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